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The two-postulate basis for special relativity is the one historically used by Einstein, and it is sometimes the starting point today. As Einstein himself later acknowledged, the derivation of the Lorentz transformation tacitly makes use of some additional assumptions, including spatial homogeneity, isotropy , and memorylessness . [ 3 ]
In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory of the relationship between space and time.In Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, the theory is presented as being based on just two postulates: [p 1] [1] [2]
Einstein's formulation was based on two postulates, as detailed below. Some formulations modify these postulates or attempt to derive the second postulate by deduction. Others differ in their approach to the geometry of spacetime and the linear transformations between frames of reference .
Albert Einstein, physicist, 1879-1955, Graphic: Heikenwaelder Hugo,1999. Special relativity is a theory of the structure of spacetime. It was introduced in Einstein's 1905 paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" (for the contributions of many other physicists and mathematicians, see History of special relativity).
Einstein elevated the (special) principle of relativity to a postulate of the theory and derived the Lorentz transformations from this principle combined with the principle of the independence of the speed of light (in vacuum) from the motion of the source. These two principles were reconciled with each other by a re-examination of the ...
Albert Einstein. Relativity: the Special and the General Theory, 10th edition (there are a total of 17 editions). ISBN 0-517-029618 at Project Gutenberg; Relativity: The Special and General Theory public domain audiobook at LibriVox; Albert Einstein, Relativity: The Special and General Theory (1920/2000) ISBN 1-58734-092-5 at Bartleby.com
The combination of Einstein's first and second postulates implies that, despite the rapid motion of the train relative to the embankment, M ' measures exactly the same speed of light as does M. Since M ' was equidistant from A and B when lightning struck, the fact that M ' receives light from B before light from A means that to M ' , the bolts ...
The usual treatment (e.g., Albert Einstein's original work) is based on the invariance of the speed of light. However, this is not necessarily the starting point: indeed (as is described, for example, in the second volume of the Course of Theoretical Physics by Landau and Lifshitz), what is really at stake is the locality of interactions: one supposes that the influence that one particle, say ...